Milk crate



C. K. HITZ July 31, 1956 MILK CRATE Filed D80. 7, 1953 INVENTOR. Chase/v A. Mrz,

n'r'rORNEYS.

United States Patent MILK CRATE Carson K. Hitz, Granville, Ohio Application December 7., 1953, Serial No. 396,400;

8 Claims. (Cl. 220-19) This invention relates to a milk crate and more particularly to such a crate as is used for the transportation of; paperboard milk containers. Because of the character of; the paperboard containers, such crates cannot be iced in the conventional manner but must be exposed to a cold ambient atmosphere. For this reason, crates used for paperboard containers are generally made. ot 'wire rather than of sheet. metal or wooden slats. The present invention is. applicable to the sheet metal or wooden crates, although. it is herein illustrated specifically with a. crate of welded wire construction.

Considerable difiiculty has been encountered in. the operation of crating paperboardmilk containers, as; they come from the filling and; sealing machine, unless the crate is made somewhat oversize. The reason for this is. that most. of the paperboard containers. in. commercial use today are square in crosssection and; have. flat: tops. 'Ihus, if the crate is of a size to snugly. hold an appropriate, number of. paperboard containers, it. is difiicult to insert the last. container and equally diflicu-lt to remove the first container.

Furthermore, many dairies are now selling two-quart units which consist simply of two ordinary one-quart packages physically glued together. In actual practice, the crate is made perhaps a quarter inch. wider than. the appropriate number of containers to be held: thereinand the paperboard; containers are gluecoated; on one side each and. slipped into the crate withaquarter inchspacing board in the crate to force the glued;containers. intoitight contact until. the glue has set. The spacingboardis'then removed.

There are many disadvantages attendant: to thetprocedures above described. As was pointed out, if the crate is made. of a size to fit the predetermined number of containers snugly then it becomes very. ditficult to: fill the crate and equally difiicult to remove the. first: con.- tainer from the crate. If, on the other hand; the crate is made somewhat oversize then the milk containersbump against each other in transit and where the route covers perhaps 2.00 miles as. is often the case, the containers are damaged andbreak out.

With the foregoing considerations inv mind,. iL is an object of the present invention to provide a milkcrate haying both the advantages ofsnug fit and easy filling and removal. It is a further object. of the invention'to provide a crate having the advantages abovementioned which Willnevertheless be substantially a standardrcrate which can be stacked with any conventional crate now in existence.

These and other objects of the invention which will be pointed out in greater detail hereinafter or which will become apparent as the specification proceeds, I accomplish by that certain construction and arrangement of parts of which I shall now disclose an exemplary embodiment.

Reference is made to the drawings forming a part hereof and in which:

Figure 1- is a plan view of a crate according to my invention.

Figure 2 is. a cross-sectional view of the same taken on. the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a. cross-sectional view of the same taken on; the line 33 of Figure 2, and- Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 showing the paperboard containers in position.

The conventional welded wire milk crate to which my invention may beapplied generally comprises. a plurality of horizontally disposed; rectangular wire rings. Two of such rings define the top and bottom of the crate while one or'more rings-may be disposed between the top and bottom rings. A- plurality of wires; are welded across the. bottom ring to provide; a floor or bottom for. the crate and. a smaller rectangular stacking ring is welded beneath the. bottom or floor. The various. horizontally disposed rings are. held in. spaced and assembled position by a. plurality of vertically disposed members.

Briefly, in the practice of my invention I provide top and bottom rings anda stacking ring; of conventional size, i. e. such. thatthe crate withoutmy' invention would be slightlyv oversize, but. I make the intermediate ring or rings of a slightlyasmaller sizesuch that when the required number. of paperboard containers are inserted into the crate, theywill fit snugly-in-the region of their midsection.

Referring now in greater detail. to the: drawing, the crate. according to my invention; comprises the top ring 10 and thebottom ring ;1'1- which are of conventional size. The floor of the crate isformed of the longitudinal members. 1-2 and the transverse members 13 in conventional manner. The stacking ring 14. issecured to the members 13 by spot-welding, also inconventional manner.

In theparticular embodiment: illustrated, I have shown two intermediate rings 15; and 16-which are somewhat smaller, than the rings 10- and 11'. In the particular embodiment shown, the rings 15 and 16 are not only shorter but also. narrower. It will,- of course, be understood that to. some degree the desirable advantages of'the invention may; be achieved if the rings 15' and 16 are smaller in one dimensiononly. I prefer, however, that they be smaller in both dimensions.

The. rings. 1%}. 111, 15-. and 16; are held in assembled condition and. properly spaced: by the vertical wireelements 17. In the particular embodiment shown, the members 17 are of hairpin-like configuration sov as to provide smoothly roundedtops. which will not--catch on clothing and which will be. less likely to cause injury to personnel handling the crate.

By virtue of. the constructiondescribed, andas best seen in Figures 2,} and 4, the'members17: will be sub.- stantially vertical between the: rings 15 and, 16 while flaringv outwardly above the member 15 and below the member.16. In this way, between.-the.rings 15 and 16 the number of paperboard. containers for which the crate is designedwill. beheld snugly, as best seen, in Figure 4, while overhang of the outermost containers beyond the members, 12. is minimized and while loading and, unloadingof the crate isfacilitated, all as best seen in Figure. 4.. 7

While thedifierenceinsizeof; therings 15 and 16 with respect to the rings 10 and 11 is not 'too critical, I find that if the rings 15 and 16 are a quarter inch smaller, both longitudinally and transversely, the desirable results of my invention are satisfactorily achieved.

It will be understood that the rings 10, 11 and 14 are of standard size so that the crate of my invention may be stacked with any standard crate now in commercial use.

Numerous modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention and, I therefore do not intend to limit myself except as set forth in the claims which follow.

Having now fully described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A welded wire milk crate comprising a plurality of vertically spaced horizontally disposed rectangular wire ring members connected together by vertically disposed wire members, a plurality of wire bottom members, the top and bottom ones of said ring members being of equal dimensions and there being a stacking ring beneath said bottom ring member and bottom members, and at least one intermediate one of said ring members having at least one of its dimensions smaller than the corresponding dimension of said top and bottom ring members, whereby said vertically disposed members slope inwardly on one pair, at least, of opposed sides of said crate, from said top ring member to said intermediate ring member.

2. A welded wire milk crate comprising a plurality of vertically spaced horizontally disposed rectangular wire ring members connected together by vertically disposed wire members, a plurality of wire bottom members, the top and bottom ones of said ring members being of equal dimensions and there being a stacking ring beneath said bottom ring member and bottom members, and at least one intermediate one of said ring members being smaller both longitudinally and transversely than said top and bottom ring members, whereby said vertically disposed members slope inwardly on the opposed sides of said crate, from said top ring member to said intermediate ring member.

3. A welded wire milk crate comprising a plurality of vertically spaced horizontally disposed rectangular wire ring members connected together by vertically disposed wire members, a plurality of wire bottom members, the top and bottom ones of said ring members being of equal dimensions such that they are oversized for the number of containers to be packed in said crate, and there being a stacking ring beneath said bottom ring member and bottom members, and at least one intermediate one of said ring members having at least one of its dimensions smaller than the corresponding dimension of said top and bottom ring members, such that said smaller dimension snugly fits the number of containers to be packed in said crate, whereby said vertically disposed members slope inwardly on one pair, at least, of opposed sides of said crate, from said top ring member to said intermediate ring member.

4. A welded wire milk crate comprising a plurality of vertically spaced horizontally dispoced rectangular wire ring members connected together by vertically disposed wire members, a plurality of wire bottom members, the top and bottom ones of said ring members being of equal dimensions such that they are oversized for the number of containers to be packed in said crate, and there being a stacking ring beneath said bottom ring member and bottom members, and at least one intermediate one of said ring members being smaller longitudinally and transversely than said top and bottom ring members so as to fit snugly the number of containers to be packed in said crate, whereby said vertically disposed members slope inwardly on opposed sides of said crate, from said top ring member to said intermediate ring member.

5. A welded wire milk crate comprising a plurality of vertically spaced horizontally disposed rectangular wire ring members connected together by vertically disposed wire members, a plurality of wire bottom members, the

top and bottom ones of said ring members being of equal dimensions and there being a stacking ring beneath said bottom ring member and bottom members, and at least two intermediate ones of said ring members having one at least of their dimensions smaller than the corresponding dimension or said top and bottom ring members, whereby said vertically disposed members slope inwardly on one pair, at least, of opposed sides of said crate, from said top and bottom ring members to said intermediate ring members.

6. A Welded wire milk crate comprising a plurality of vertically spaced horizontally disposed rectangular Wire ring members connected together by vertically disposed wire members, a plurality of Wire bottom members, the top and bottom ones of said ring members being of equal dimensions and there being a stacking ring beneath said bottom ring member and bottom members, and at least two intermediate ones of said ring members being smaller both longitudinally and transversely than said top and bottom ring members, whereby said vertically disposed members slope inwardly on the opposed sides of said crate, from said top and bottom ring members to said intermediate ring members.

7. A welded wire milk crate comprising a plurality of vertically spaced horizontally disposed rectangular Wire ring members connected together by vertically disposed wire members, a plurality of wire bottom members, the top and bottom ones of said ring members being of equal dimensions such that they are oversized for the number of containers to be packed in said crate, and there being a stacking ring beneath said bottom ring member and bottom members, and at least two intermediate ones of said ring members having at least one of their dimensions smaller than the corresponding dimension of said top and bottom ring members, such that said smaller dimension snugly fits the number of containers to be packed in said crate, whereby said vertically disposed members slope inwardly on one pair, at least, of opposed sides of said crate, from said top and bottom ring members to said intermediate ring members.

8. A welded wire milk crate comprising a plurality of vertically spaced horizontally disposed rectangular wire ring members connected together by vertically disposed Wire members, a plurality of wire bottom members, the top and bottom ones of said ring members being of equal dimensions such that they are oversized for the number of containers to be packed in said crate, and there being a stacking ring beneath said bottom ring member and bottom members, and at least two intermediate ones of said ring members being smaller longitudinally and transversely than said top and bottom ring members so as to fit snugly the number of containers to be packed in said crate, whereby said vertically disposed members slope inwardly on opposed sides of said crate, from said top and bottom ring members to said intermediate ring members.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

